New Jersey Bonus Tax Calculator 2026
New Jersey withholds a separately paid bonus by running it through your pay-period rate table with no exemption allowances, so the rate climbs with the size of the bonus — from 1.5% up to 11.8%.
Bonus check calculator
The bonus is treated as one pay period, with no allowances
NJ-WT, the Division of Taxation's New Jersey Income Tax Withholding Instructions (September 2025), has a short rule for a bonus paid on its own date: "Withhold from the supplemental wages without any exemption allowances your employee takes on the NJ-W4." In practice the employer runs the bonus through the percentage-method table for the employee's normal payroll period as if it were that period's entire pay. New Jersey has no flat supplemental rate, so the bonus climbs the brackets on its own — from 1.5% up to 11.8%.
Why your pay frequency changes the answer
The tables (in force for wages paid on and after October 1, 2020) are scaled to the pay period. A $5,000 bonus is a large paycheck on a weekly table and a modest one on a monthly table: for a single employee (Rate A) it is withheld $305.41 on a weekly payroll, $261.05 biweekly and $167.69 monthly. Married employees who check box 2, 4 or 5 on the NJ-W4 use Rate B, which has a 2.7% bracket and wider early brackets — $187.30 on the biweekly example. A $25,000 bonus on a biweekly payroll is withheld $1,828.13.
Four worker contributions
New Jersey also deducts state insurance contributions from employee wages. For January 1 – December 31, 2026 the Department of Labor lists worker rates of 0.3825% for unemployment insurance and 0.0425% for the workforce funds (on the first $44,800 of 2026 wages), and 0.19% for temporary disability and 0.23% for family leave insurance (on the first $171,100). On the $5,000 bonus they total $42.26. The 2027 wage bases are already set at $46,400 and $177,100; the 2027 worker rates are not yet published.
| Rule | Bonus run through your pay-period rate table with no allowances (1.5%–11.8%) |
|---|---|
| Valid through | No end date in the governing text |
| Documents | NJ-WT New Jersey Income Tax Withholding Instructions (September 2025) · Tables for Percentage Method of Withholding (Wages paid on and after October 1, 2020) · Annual rate, wage, base week, and benefit information (Worker rates January 1–December 31, 2026) |
| Agency | New Jersey Division of Taxation |
| Federal income tax | −$1,100.00 |
| Social Security | −$310.00 |
| Medicare | −$72.50 |
| New Jersey income tax | −$261.05 |
| NJ unemployment (worker) | −$19.13 |
| NJ workforce / supplemental workforce funds | −$2.13 |
| NJ temporary disability (worker) | −$9.50 |
| NJ family leave insurance | −$11.50 |
| Net | $3,214.19 |